Living Off-Grid and Debt-Free: A Dog Musher’s Story
Last Updated: Feb 23, 2025The indicators of global climate change are becoming more alarming. Greenland recently lost about 4 trillion pounds of ice in just one day due to warming temperatures in the Arctic. One of the most recent reports on global climate change states bluntly that warming temperatures and more severe storms pose an “existential risk to humanity.” More and more, an ecological transition toward a more sustainable society depends on individual action.
Separating and recycling household waste, switching to LED lights, and avoiding single-use plastic bags are the first steps to help homeowners begin to understand the intricacies of a more sustainable home and lifestyle. To effectively respond to global ecological crises in the ever shorter time frames afforded to us, some homeowners are making radical changes in their lifestyles.
Finding models for a profound paradigmatic shift that prioritizes sustainability can be challenging, but we found an inspiring role model: Justin Allen. Among his many accomplishments, Justin Allen, owner of Boss Dog Expeditions and 20 frisky huskies, completed a 3,000-kilometre trek by dog sled from northern Manitoba to New Brunswick, then decided to build a 600-square-foot off-grid home in the woods of New Brunswick. While he branded Boss Dog Expeditions as an eco-tour agency, during the past year, Allen has discovered that his off-grid lifestyle is an attraction in and of itself.
Table of Contents
- Living Small, Smart, and Off-Grid
- Self-Sufficiency, Economic Independence
- Suggestions for Going Off-Grid
A 750-watt solar PV system powers the home, which Allen says is the minimum size needed without resorting to gasoline-powered generators as a backup energy source. Seven-watt LEDs light the house. He found a special refrigerator that only uses 57 watts of energy. The most significant upfront investment was the battery system or power bank. Allen has six batteries in a 12-volt system. Both the inverter and the charge controller are sized for a 1,500-watt system, which will allow him to double the solar array in the future easily. An efficient wood stove heats the well-insulated home.
Allen decided to build a small home of only 600 square feet to avoid the challenges of building permits and zoning regulations. “In New Brunswick, you don’t need a building permit for 600 square feet or less,” Allen explains. “This was a big factor for me because building permits can get expensive.” Nonetheless, he built the house to code.
While an average-sized home in Canada is around 2,200 square feet, “600 square feet is plenty for me living by myself,” Allen says. “I only have a wood stove for heat, and less square footage is easier to keep warm. The house also requires less energy.”
Self-Sufficiency, Economic Independence
Allen’s next project is installing a household micro-hydro renewable energy system. “I like my solar,” he says, “but it’s pretty inefficient. If you think about it, half of every day is dark, so 50 percent of the year, especially up here, you´re not getting any power. With a source of water flow such as a stream or brook, I can have constant 24/7 energy, and hydro systems are cheap.”
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.
